In the Snow
by Prime627
Summary: The Arctic is a dangerous place, so when Prime goes to investigate a strange surge of energy, why would he find a lone Seeker elbow-deep in the freezing cold water and apparently unwilling to let go of whatever he is clutching? And why would he make some rather questionable choices when he finally coaxes the Seeker into shelter?
1. In the Snow

Optimus was drawn to the Artic due to an energy spike. He didn't want the Decepticons or Starscream to beat him there, so he left as soon as he saw the unusual activity. As soon as the GroundBridge closed, his thoughts turned to the warmth of his base. He cursed himself for being so foolish in just jumping through without even refueling or making sure he could take the extreme cold. But he was here now, and no one was able to Bridge him back because the cold had shorted his commlink out (of course).

Did he forget to mention that today was known as a Monday?

He walked through the snow, pulling up a mental map of where the energy spike approximately was. He wished he had snagged a navigator on the way out. Of course, he wished he had grabbed several things, but he had gotten so very excited and forgot to think, which made him smile a bit behind his battle mask. He might as well still be Orion from the way he was acting.

He stopped when he heard something, and then he ran to the sound. He saw Starscream of all 'cons floudering in the snow and making a big fuss out of something. He walked cautiously forward, glancing around to see if Starscream had reallied himself with the Decepticons...again. But no one was with the Seeker now, and no one seemed to be around. Starscream was still a loner.

"Well, aren't you going to help me!?"

Optimus knelt and he saw that Starscream had his arms in a hole in the ice. It was a poor way to ice-fish. "You appear to be stuck."

"I know that!"

The Prime moved him around a bit. "You have to let go of whatever you are holding."

"I am _not_ letting go of it!"

"Then you will be stuck." Optimus went to stand, but then Starscream started to whimper and he looked down to see the little Seeker was trembling, and not from the intense cold. He was scared. It pulled at Optimus' spark.

"I-I..." He slowly looked down and his forehelm rested on the ground. Then he sat back. Whatever he had been gripping, he had released. And his claws were starting to ice over.

Optimus scooped the Seeker up and bundled him against his chest. "We must find cover."

"If my GroundBridge didn't bail on me, we could have gotten out of this frigid waste land!"

That must have been the energy surge. He set Starscream down beside a snow-dune, then began to dig. He made a cave in a matter of minutes, which he laid Starscream in before he crawled in himself.

"So, what are we going to do in the meantime? Suffer in silence?"

Optimus pushed more snow out of the cave, making it bigger, but not so big that their body heat couldn't be shared. "No, we are going to wait for someone to notice our absense."

"How long will that be?"

"A few hours. Four, at the most."

Starscream groaned, actually starting to whine, and he squirmed as far away as he could from Prime. Then he started to chip at the ice forming on his arms and claws.

Optimus took his servos and held them, exhaling on the frozen claws to warm them up. When Starscream could move them without squeaking or grimacing in pain, he moved to warm the Seeker's arms, then his wings and his back. He wished for a blanket, or a heating pad, or something. But he, again, didn't think about grabbing anything.

Starscream watched him, the warmth the Prime was giving being the only thing that made him stay as close as he was to the Prime. He cautiously moved closer, pressing his cold body against Optimus' warm one. The bigger mech hardly flinched. He just curled up around the Seeker and held him close to his body, away from the wind, the snow, and the cold.

They laid like that for hours until Starscream began to whimper and squirm from the cold that was seeping through. Prime had begun to shiver, and he looked down at Starscream with worried optics. They wouldn't be able to survive like this much longer.

Starscream nuzzled into his chest, trying to keep warm. He started to cry and Optimus moved his audio so he could hear him.

"I shouldn't have run away from Megatron! I wanted to show him that I was a part of the team, too, so I tracked down a missing part of the warship. I couldn't pick it up out of the hole I had carved. I wouldn't let it go. Megatron wouldn't have let me back on the Nemesis without it..."

Optimus soothed him and he pulled him against his chest, firmly clamping his wings down so they wouldn't be victims to frostbite. "It is alright now. Megatron will notice you are missing and he will check the GroundBridge coordinates..." It was a nice thought, but he knew Megatron didn't care about his warriors, not even about his second-in-command. He had probably already appointed a new one in his place.

Starscream looked up at him and Optimus saw the scared Seeker that was tucked away inside. He touched his cheek, and Starscream's claws found Optimus'. The Prime hesitated before pulling the Seeker in for a kiss.

The kiss became something more, and it effectively got them warmed up. Starscream laid under him when Optimus finally pulled back and they panted at each other before the hunger became undeniable.

Optimus _wanted_ Starscream. He pulled the Seeker against him and his digits found the Seeker's paneling. Starscream squirmed, shifting and whimpering before he finally gave up to the Prime.

He made sure he was gentle with the smaller mech. He found his port, which was obviously thoroughly abused. He sighed against the Seeker's neck as he gently bit at a cord.

Starscream had never experienced anything like this. Megatron took and often left the Seeker pawing for a sheet to cover himself. Megatron didn't often shut the door when he came for the Seeker, and his aft was soon on display for the warship to see. Prime was not like that at all. If they had been in Prime's berth, Starscream believed he would shut the door, and possibly even have a little fun with him before. But while they were near the point of freezing to death, interfacing was the quickest way to get them warmed up, and it was the only way Prime had thought of, in Starscream's mind. He had never been given pleasure before. He was always giving it out.

So why would he think that Prime was doing this out of love?

Optimus kissed him as he finished. Starscream had climaxed three times before him, and he was climaxing now as Prime pumped his coding into his port. He couldn't stay as long as he wanted in the port so he pulled out as fast as he could, which almost wasn't fast enough. His fluid was already cold as it trickled out of Starscream.

The Seeker looked up at Optimus, slowly closing his legs. He expected the Prime to push him away, or even rip his legs back open and go for it again. But Optimus tucked him closer against his chest and kissed his face.

"You are not ready for another interface. You must rest now."

Starscream stared at him in shock, slowly pulling away. He felt that he couldn't trust Optimus. The Prime obviously was using him, or something. So when he heard a GroundBridge power up, he scrambled out of the cave and ran smack into Megatron's arms, bowling the warlord over in the process.

Optimus stood in the entrance of the cave and his battle mask slid over his mouth. He gave Megatron a small nod, then disappeared back into the ice cave.

Knockout was ordered to examine Starscream as soon as possible. Megatron and the medic were surprised to see traces of Optimus' fluid on the Seeker's aft. Megatron grabbed Starscream by his neck and shook him.

It was the love that he understood best.

Meanwhile, Optimus was laying on his berth, staring up at the ceiling as he thought back to what had occured in the snow. He sighed, dusted at his chest and arm absently, and he rolled over again. The poor Seeker, he thought. What had he done wrong? Nothing, he assured himself. Starscream was an abused mech, with a warped sense of love and pleasure.

Part of Optimus had wanted to show him the other side of love. The other half told him it was incredibly stupid to want to change Starscream.

Because once Megatron had his claws on a mech or femme, they were never the same again.


	2. I Am Yours

Optimus paced in his base, shaking his helm as he denied counsel from his team, from his oldest friend, and even from the human children. He wouldn't settle, and he wouldn't speak. Ratchet had begun to worry that he had gone mute due to some kind of trauma he experienced in the Arctic. When he had been returned to the Autobots, he was covered in frozen fluid, some his own, and some was a mix of Starscream's and Megatron's. Prime had a history of being extremely submissive around any dominant mech like Megatron, who was his mate when he was Orion Pax, and Ratchet worried that the warlord and the Seeker had attacked him, and used him.

But he wasn't there, and he couldn't make any kind of theory while Prime remained silent, suffering inside himself like always instead of speaking, or crying for someone to hold him like he used to.

Arcee was even worried. In Prime, she saw herself after she lost her two partners. He avoided physical contact, recharge, and Energon. Arcee had done the same.

It did not make any sense to anyone. Just the other day, Prime was happy. Now he was sulking and whining, but refusing to be soothed. He was more than a fussing sparkling that could be ignored. He was possibly a scarred mech who needed help.

But Optimus shied away when he saw Ratchet coming, and he jumped out of Bumblebee's arms, who had snuck up behind him on his blind-side, which made Ratchet frown. He wasn't unusally sensitive on his blind-side, and anyone had the ability to sneak up in it. Even Bulkhead had caught him offguard and had made him squeal. The whole base went into a laughing fit and Prime just stood in the center, looking around. His battle mask had slid over his mouth to hide any evidence of a blush, or Primus forbid, a smile.

Now Ratchet almost expected the battle mask to come out and hide his frown, or a trembing bottom lip, but Prime remained pacing, and his optics remained troubled.

_**Meanwhile, on the Decepticon warship...**_

Starscream laid in his berth, gripping the sheets to his chest as Megatron got out of his berth. He made soft grunts as he walked out of the Seeker's quarters. He left Starscream to his thoughts and to the mess of fluid trickling out of him.

Why had Prime given him such tender care? What had Prime wanted in return? He found himself enjoying it as he reflected their time in the snow, and he squealed in surprise at his body's reactions. He sat up and curled around himself, but he couldn't deny it.

Prime had given him more than Megatron had.

And he was still hungry for it.

He locked his panel into place and he hunted for his data pad that was probably lost in the activity with Megatron. He found it under his berth and he tried to open up a frequency so that he could communicate with the Prime.

He didn't have to wait long for the Prime to open up his frequency to reply.

"Starscream," Optimus whispered. He sounded surprised, as if he could hardly believe it, and he sounded hoarse, as though he had not spoken in some time.

"What did you want from me?"

Prime frowned at him, and the image grew fuzzy before his optics dropped and he tapped a few keys into the data pad. The image cleared and he looked Starscream directly into the optics. "I wanted you to love me, and for a moment I believed you did."

Starscream nearly dropped the data pad. Love? What was that, anyway? He had never experienced it, not even when he knew his carrier. Did he and his brothers have love? Was it that feeling of _I can trust him with my spark_ or was it something else entirely? Did love mean giving yourself up, or taking control?

Prime was silent during this time, and he seemed to be patient. Starscream's wings trembled as he whispered.

"I need to see you again."

Optimus offered a nod and the suggestion of a smile. Was he thinking the same thing? "I will give you the coordinates of where I will be. I will see you then."

Starscream nodded and he held the data pad with trembling servos as he looked at the coordinates Prime had sent him. He said his good-byes, which was somehow amusing to the larger mech, and he put the coordinates in his navigator-device, which had helped locate the few Iacon relics they have managed to get their paws on. Then he stood up, made his berth just to waste time.

When there was no busy-work left, he took a deep intake.

And he left the _Nemesis_ behind.

When he landed at the place the navigator directed him to, he looked around for Prime. Before that time, he had never known he had a blind-spot. But Prime found it, and when he felt servos close around his hips, he leaped six feet into the air and spun around with his claws ready to slash at...Prime's grinning face.

"It is I," he whispered, and he pressed into the Seeker. Starscream looked away, so the kiss Optimus had planned was placed on his cheek instead. "Starscream?"

He looked at him, and he pushed on his chest. He did not expect Optimus to release him. Megatron would have held him firmly. "What is this?"

Optimus blinked for a moment, then he touched the Seeker's cheek with his digits, and Starscream learned the meaning of gentle. He leaned into the servo.

"This is whatever you want it to be. This can be a friendship, an alliance, or it can be more."

He was given options? The only option he was given was _in the mouth or in the aft?_

"What would be more?" he asked softly. He was squirming a bit, nervous. Optimus was moving closer, backing him into a tree, but he left three inches between them. Three inches was a long distance.

The three-inch distance was too far away.

"More would include you being my mate. It would include you being in my berth. It may include sparklings. It would include physical contact, of which I have craved from you." He had begun to whisper and Starscream was expecting the kiss that was coming.

This time he welcomed it. His arms wrapped around his neck and he whined for more, but Prime wasn't Megatron.

Prime was gentle and giving where Megatron was rough and demanding.

Starscream pulled away and he panted softly, his wings fluttering. He wanted Prime.

Optimus rested his forehelm on Starscream's, which was a sign of affection, and his glossa flicked out to touch Starscream's lips. Now he was questioning, asking instead of assuming.

The Seeker nodded eagerly, and let the Prime pin him further up the tree. His glossa wrapped around Optimus', and they moved together as Prime found his way into Starscream's aft once again.

Starscream gripped his chest, murmuring into his mouth. He begged for gentle, and it was what he got. Slow movements into him, slow carresses, slow touches.

Optimus' mouth pulled away from Starscream's and latched instead onto his throat as he purred into the cables. "You are mine?"

Starscream gripped his helm and he tipped his helm back. "I am yours."

They were knotted together, Starscream's back against the tree, Optimus leaning gently into him as he made gentle thrusts into his already-used aft while Megatron's coding trickled, forgotton, to the leaves. Starscream pressed his face into his new mate's neck and he whined for more. He was testing the Prime. Surely, he was in for some sort of punishment.

But Optimus was gentle as he found his wings and he found every sensitive sensor on them. It made them tremble, and the little tremors worked all the way down his body, until Optimus was laughing and red was blooming on both of their faces. They were reaching the end of it, and Starscream asked him to stop in a small voice.

It couldn't end.

The Prime understood and they stayed like that, panting at each other as digits and claws found sensitive areas and explored. When Starscream's claws found Optimus' aft, he was suprised that the larger mech shifted and bared his denta in a small warning. Starscream looked up into his optics and he slowly tried his luck. He gently pulled at the paneling shielding the delicate port of the Prime, and when he felt the hot port, he froze and looked up at him. Optimus was shifty, but he didn't bare his denta. Only when Starscream felt the scarred tissue did he understand.

Prime had been someone's plaything. The Seeker gasped and he pulled his servos away. "I didn't know..."

"I know. Not very many bots do." He dipped his helm and kisses his shoulder.

Starscream hugged his helm and kept him there, kissing at his audio. "You'll be safe with me."

The Prime chuckled, and it made the Seeker vibrate against his chest. They laid down in the leaves together, Optimus buried in Starscream. He slowly began to move again.

For hours, there was the sound of the stream, the sound of the birds, the quiet steps of a doe and her fawn, and the soft rasp of metal against metal as Prime taught Starscream _gentle_.

When he was finished, he didn't throw Starscream away, or abandon him with the mess. He scooped him up and carried him to his base, where he slipped past his team. He laid him in his berth, kissing the heated paneling on the Seeker cool again. Then he chased the fluid off with a rag and warm water. Starscream still expected pain, and he would tense under Prime's servo.

As Optimus worked, he frowned not only in concentration. He was thinking, and when he looked into Starscream's scared optics, he made a vow...

_Starscream will never again flinch under anyone's touch._

He purred at that thought and he pulled the Seeker into a kiss.

"I love you," he whispered. He didn't expect Starscream to return it. Love was something he wasn't exposed to. Everyone knew that.

But Starscream nodded and he whispered so low that Prime had to lean closer, if that was at all possible.

"I love you, too."


	3. Blue Optics

It didn't take long for Optimus and Starscream to be discovered. Ratchet had walked in on Optimus kissing Starscream's face while the Seeker slept. The medic did more than stare in horror. He drug the Prime into the main room in front of everyone despite the fact that Optimus was barely covered. Arcee gave him a towel to cover up what was exposed while Ratchet went crazy. Smokescreen and Bumblebee watched silently. Bulkhead was unable to look at his leader.

"What were you thinking?"

Optimus adjusted the towel around his hips. "I was thinking that you are overreacting."

"I meant about bringing a Decepticon into our base."

The Prime looked around his team in disbelief. "I do not think you understand. The factions are in your heads. We are all Cybertronian, and everyone is worthy of love. But you are too convinced that the factions are something tangible. They are not!"

"Starscream isn't exactly the most loyal, Optimus. What if he turns on us?"

"He will not, Ratchet."

"You can't be sure of that."

Optimus sighed, then looked at his team. "Let me show you. Come on. Come along." He ushered his team into his quarters and he made sure each of them saw Starscream sleep.

His wings were twitching softly against his back and he had his claws curled into the fabric of the pillow under his helm. His mouth twitched as he dreamed. He moved once, pawing at his face slightly and he whined gently.

Optimus looked at his team. "Whether you are Decepticon or Autobot, this is how you look when you sleep. You are vulnerable. Now, I dare each of you to aim your weapons at him. Come on. He is a Decepticon, after all."

The team glanced between each other for a moment and they brought their weapons to bear. Ratchet dropped them immediately as Starscream yawned.

Arcee pressed her cannon against Starscream's forehelm, but even she couldn't keep it there. Bulkhead put his weapons away the same time Bumblebee and Smokescreen dropped theirs.

Weapons were put away.

Optimus nodded at them. "You cannot do it, can you?"

They shook their helms.

"I am not telling you to take Starscream to your berth. I am simply suggesting that you give him a chance, just as I have given all of you chances, and several chances after that."

The Autobots nodded.

Optimus dismissed them as hesensed that Starscream would wake up eventually. He didn't want the Seeker to freak out when he saw everyone watching him.

He laid beside Starscream and he kissed his helm as the Seeker opened his optics and Optimus had the start of his life.

They were blue.

Just like sparks, optics could be changed. They were windows into the spark, and what was going on inside. Starscream had been lost and confused, so his optics were red, but after Optimus found him and brought him back to the life, the world became clear to the Seeker and they turned blue. So Optimus was right. Everyone could be saved, no matter how far away they had wandered.

Or how dark their optics were.


End file.
